A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs

$4000$40.00

David W. Bercot

Topically arranged quotations from Christian writers (most of them Orthodox) from the first two centuries of the Church form an invaluable reference guide. The volume is arranged alphabetically, with entries for such matters as "Fear of God", "Law, Mosaic", "Millenium", "Perfection, Christian", and so on. Each citation is indexed with its volume and page number in the Ante-Nicene Fathers series published by Eerdmans (and reprinted by Hendrickson), making it a relatively easy matter to check its context. Unfortunately, despite the utility of the volume, a very loud caveat must be added. Despite the editor's contention that he has "made every effort to make this volume as theologically neutral as" he can, his theological biases are intense and certainly guide his selections of quotations. First: everything contained in this volume is from the very earliest days of the Church, and quite intentionally excludes anything the editor identifies as post-Nicene: his contempt for the Church after that time is too well known to need further comment. Without engaging in a thorough review, it must be noted, as well, that the entry under "Icon" simply reads "See Art, Arts, Images"... and the quotations to be found under those headings are carefully selected to fit the Protestant prejudices of the editor. Certainly similar biases are likely to be at work elsewhere. In conclusion: sometimes one finds books created in heretical contexts which are too valuable to be dismissed as irrelevant, and this is one of them. Hard-Bound